'36 Radio Conversion Poor Sound

Steve in Denver

Steve in Denver

Well-known member
I had my Philco Model FT-9 converted to AM/FM/MP3.
The sound is not audible at all. To say it is terrible is an understatement. It is hard to even tell what language it is, even with the engine off and trying to listen to my wife’s phone with Seri on it. Just terrible.
Details: 12-volt, negative ground, new speakers, no Engine Noise suppressor, Original in dash radio head with cable controls.
I like having the AM/FM/MP3 option and I like the in-dash radio head.

What have others done to have a radio that one can actually listen to? Has anyone adapted a regular radio to the control arms. I would prefer to keep the radio head in the dash.

This is the card that is the radio.

I think this sticker is for the card, but not sure.
 

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Steve in Denver said:
I had my Philco Model FT-9 converted to AM/FM/MP3.
The sound is not audible at all. To say it is terrible is an understatement. It is hard to even tell what language it is, even with the engine off and trying to listen to my wife’s phone with Seri on it. Just terrible.
Details: 12-volt, negative ground, new speakers, no Engine Noise suppressor, Original in dash radio head with cable controls.
I like having the AM/FM/MP3 option and I like the in-dash radio head.

What have others done to have a radio that one can actually listen to? Has anyone adapted a regular radio to the control arms. I would prefer to keep the radio head in the dash.

This is the card that is the radio.

I think this sticker is for the card, but not sure.
Click to expand...
527431


527432


527433
 
I started with an original stock dead radio in my 1952 Ford F1. I threw out all the guts and kept only the case and of course the front. I bought a working $5.00 AM/FM radio at a swap meet and installed it in the empty case. Of course the knobs didn't match up so I 3D printed all the necessary connections and used pulleys and timing belts to connect the controls. I installed some nice 6" speakers in the kick panels. I even had the preset buttons connected except for one to switch AM to FM. I had it working really nicely with stereo sound until first the AM crapped out and then the tuning string broke. I'll work on it some more in the winter. Today I picked up a couple of $10 radios at a swap meet that I can use if I can't fix what I had. I think I need to change the capacitors for starters. My goal is to have a stock looking radio that puts out great sound. The truck is still 6 Volt positive ground and the inserted radio is 12 volt negative ground so it has to be isolated from the rest of the truck. I have cheap Aliexpress step up boosters to convert tp 12 volts. I also have a cheap Chinese FM radio hidden in the glove compartment that has Bluetooth, memory slots, USB ports, etc. I have 4 channel relay (Aliexpress $5.00) to switch the speakers.
 
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Regarding your radio, I would check to see if the antenna is connected properly to the board. Even my Aliexpress radio, $27 including shipping to Canada, has pretty good sound.
 
my '53 radio 8 tube -chrome buttons. Sent [2] cores to an advertised shop in V8 times. They Kept one core and the returned radio is junk on AM. Never again. Newc
 
A friend of mine repaired my '51 8-tube DeLuxe radio. He did a great job. There was still nothing to listen to on AM. What the O/P did is the way to go (if it works).

To the O/P; What do the people who did the conversion say? That's the first place to ask, I would think.
 
Some radios have antenna trimmer adjustments for am reception, can be the difference between almost nothing and stations from a long distance being clear and loud
The ohm rating of the speaker has to match the ohm rating of the amplifier
 
I had a radio converted digitally by a well known shop. It worked great until I changed my wires to the repro FoMoCo type then I found I needed to install suppressors. That fixed the issue. In the process of troubleshooting we also switched from a single stereo speaker back to a one mono speaker system. It was much louder clearer and sounded fine in context of the old truck. It was much louder than the stereo and that made it clearer and more functional. Took less power to drive that speaker. I’m on 6v pos ground.
 
My '35 radio buzzes but no stations. I haven't messed with it yet. I've been using a 12" x 3" round Bluetooth speaker. I set it up on the rear seat back, it rests against the back window trim and sounds pretty good, Pandora, all the good music! Now that you mentioned this subject I guess I'll put it on my list of things to do, lol.
 
Steve in Denver said:
How do you do that so fast? I tried imbedding the pictures in my post and that did not work.
Click to expand...


Steve ..... It's NOT a big-secret process. Immediately after you post the small thumbnail pictures on The 'Barn, out there in "INTERWEB-LAND" a URL identifier is generated for each picture, (it's that "http://www.fordbarn*******" thingy that appears at the very top, left on your display). Once your little picture is posted ANYWHERE on the web (Ford Barn in this case), you can merely use that square, yellow icon with mountains in it (
insertimage.gif
) to post the enlarged pictures. Click the link BELOW for an explanatory sheet that I wrote-up some time back to make posting pictures much easier for guys that care to study it a little.

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2055638&postcount=649


Coop

.
 
Steve in Denver said:
Thanks, I did make sure my antenna was properly connected I even took a ground from the antenna directly to the radio.
Click to expand...

Is the antenna attached to the case or the card? I see an "ANT" connection on the green circuit board but can't see if anything is soldered to it because it's covered by a wire. You would think that a reputable firm would test the radio before sending it out.
 
Not sure, whoever I had build it, and I think he has since passed away, put the radio together, and as it does have some sound, I think the antenna is hooked up. The lead does go into the box.
 
You might also look into your speaker connections. I remember my son and I installing an aftermarket sound system in his 80's Mustang and encountered a problem. I don't remember the exact details, but the new Jensen (?) speakers required a different grounding arrangement than the OEM Ford (Philco?) system. Connections weren't exactly the same and we had to ground the speakers separately or something to enable them to work properly. Memories are fuzzy after 30 yrs. or so. Ha ha

Al H.
 
You might try connecting a temporary ground with an alligator clip to one or both speaker frames and test for improvement. There should be no risk in trying this.

Another thought as I was sending the first message was whether your new radio card provided any option to control front/rear sound if four speakers is an option or choice. I didn't notice any connections that suggested 4 speaker outputs, tho.

Al H
 
I'm with tubman, why ask on this forum and not of the person or firm that did the conversion?
 
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